Drapery support



1366- 1960 M. A. scHoos DRAPERY SUPPORT Filed July 17, 1959 IN VEN TOR. MAURICE A. SCHOOS V1FIG.3

ATTORNEYS DRAPERY SUPPORT Maurice A. Schoos, East Greenwich, R.I., assignor to Kenney Manufacturing Company, Cranston, R1,, a corporation of Rhode Island Filed July 17, 1959, Ser. No. 827,854

3 Claims. (Cl. 160348) This invention relates to drapery supports, and more particularly to slip-in hooks for supporting pinch pleated draperies and the like. r

The general objects of my invention are: first, to provide a springgripping pinch-pleat hook which holdsthe curtain with improved gripping force; and secondly, to provide a pinch-pleat hook capable of holding the curtain in a position forward of the rods and other supporting elements so that the top margin of the curtain can remain in a vertically disposed position.

In the accomplishment of these objects in a preferred embodiment of my invention, I provide a hook employing a generally U-shaped base loop having upwardly extending legs. The loop is made of strong, but resilient, wire and is bent so that the legs provide alternately spaced openings and restricted passages. The uppermost of these passages comes together to a zero spacing under spring compression when the hook is not in use. Each of the restricted passages therebelow is provided with a slightly greater open space when the hook is not in use. The drapery supporting hook is mounted on the lower portion of the loop and extends upwardly and rearwardly therefrom in a plane generally normal to the base loop.

It is a feature of my invention that the restricted passages between the legs of the base loop provide substantially short points of contact against the curtain, which I find to be far more effective than the previously known line contacts. Moreover, an additional feature of my invention relating to the restricted passages is that they are arranged with successively wider spacing from top to bottom. This means that the legs may be spread open as they are inserted into the curtain pockets and the spring pressure will remain relatively uniformly distributed from point to point rather than having the major bearing force only at the bottom restriction as would be the case without such progressively increased openings.

An additional feature of my invention relates to the positioning of the hook. This is arranged substantially to the rear of the plane of the base loop and serves to hold the rear of the curtain outwardly from the supporting elements, such as traverse rod carriers and the like. This feature of my invention is operationally associated with the above-mentioned features relating to the increased gripping power of the restricted passages. It is this increased gripping power which makes it possible to hold the curtain tightly between the upwardly extending legs of the base loop and at the same time support the curtain with a substantial space between the hook and the rear face of the curtain.

It is an additional feature of my invention that the superior gripping power provided by the restricted passages helps hold the base loop of the support firmly against relative motion between itself and the curtain even though the curtain pockets may be substantially longer than the hook legs. This is important because it prevents the curtain material adjacent to the base of the pockets from buuching or taking on an unsightly stretched appearance if the base of the loop is required to bear the full weight-of the curtain itself.

Further objects and features of my invention will best. be understood and appreciated from a detailed descrip" tion of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for pur v poses of illustration, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a view in perspective of a pair of drapery supports of my invention showing in phantom lines a;

pinch-pleated curtain supported thereby; Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the drapery supports shown in Fig. l with the curtain and rod elements.

shown in cross section; and

Fig. 3 is a view in front elevation of the drapery sup-F port of my invention.

The preferred embodiment of my invention hereinj shown is made of steel wire, and comprises a base loop. indicated at 10 disposed in a generally vertical plane parallel tothe rear face of a drape 12 indicated in phan-f fom lines in Fig. l. The base loop 10 is provided with a pair of upstanding leg portions 14, each bent to pro-. vide restricted passages 16 and widened passages 18 therebetween. It will be understood that the legs 14 are essentially resilient, being made of steel wire, and constructed and arranged to hold together by spring force.

When the support is not in use, the legs 14 abut each other at the uppermost restricted passage 16, and the succeeding restricted passages therebelow are spaced apart by a progressively larger dimension. In one embodiment of my invention adapted for use with standard curtain material, the uppermost restricted passage 16 is entirely closed when the support is not in use; the second restricted passage has a clearance of .005" to .015"; the third restricted passage has a clearance of .015" to .025"; and the fourth restricted passage has a clearance of .025" to .035". With spacing of such dimensions the base loop may be inserted into the adjacent vertical pockets of a curtain 12 and each one of the restricted passages will firmly grip the seam line between the two pockets.

It shall be understood that in addition to the progressive spacing of the passages 16, it is likewise important to grip the seam line between the curtain pockets at somewhat of a point contact rather than a flat or line contact. This is true for several reasons. First, the point contact is more effective where fabrics are employed because it forms a slight indentation which has substantially more resistance to motion than a simple crease caused by a line point of contact. Second, the point contact along a stitched seam line tends to set itself between stitches where its gripping force is extremely efiective.

The base loop is supported by means of a hook 20 secured to the lower portion of the base loop 10 and extending in a rearward vertical direction in a plane generally normal to the plane of the base loop 10. In the preferred embodiment herein shown, the hook 20 extends to the rear of the base loop 10 by a substantial distance spaced clearly apart from the rear face of the curtain 12 and holding the curtain outwardly therefrom by a distance sufficient to permit the curtain 12 to hang vertically at its upper margin. Of course, some curtains do not have enough internal strength to stand vertically in their upper portions, and since the center of gravity .of the hook and support must necessarily be slightly Patented Dec. .6,.-=19. 6O

It will be understood, of course, that the superior gripping force of the restricted passage 16 is the feature of my invention which makes it possible to support the curtain, in a position spaced substantially forward from the hook supporting element.

Since various modifications and changes in the preferred embodiment of my invention herein shown will now be apparent to those skilled in the art, it is not my intention to confine the invention to the precise form herein shown, but rather to limit it in terms of the appended claims.

Having thus described and disclosed a preferred embodiment of my'invention', what I' claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A drapery support comprising: a base loop of generally U-shaped configuration having a pair of upwardly extending legs disposed in a plane parallel to the drapery, said legs being resiliently separable and arranged to fit into vertically aligned adjacent pockets in the drapery, at least one of said legs being bent to define between said legs a plurality of vertically disposed alternately spaced openings and restricted passages, said passages forming a plurality of vertically spaced gripping areas along the length of said legs for relatively short distances so that said legs grip the curtain within the pockets and form a series of load bearing points, said restricted passages arranged with progressiwely narrower spacing from the lowermost thereof to the uppermost thereof to provide a gripping force for each of said load bearing points, and a hook mounted on the lower portion of said base loop extending upwardly to the rear thereof.

2. A drapery support as set forth in claim 1 further characterized in that the legs at the uppermost passage are in abutting contact when said support is not inserted in the pockets.

3. A drapery support as set forth in claim, 1 further characterized in that said hook is positioned a substantial distance from the rear plane of said legs for supporting the drapery spaced from a rod.

References Cited in the file ofv this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,553,272 Perlmutter May 15, 1951 2,623,583 Handley Dec. 30, 1952 2,758,645 Sherman Aug. 14, 1956 

